The invention relates to a group communication method and a device, a method for forming of a group of terminal devices and a method for listening a message between members of an established group and a method for sending a message between members of an established group.
Advances in telecommunications systems technology have resulted in a variety of systems and services being available for system users. These systems include cellular telephone systems providing mobile telephone services. The cellular telephone systems provide services that allow subscribers to these systems to increase their accessibility and be reachable, potentially at all times, and as long as the subscribers remain in the service areas covered by their systems.
In a cellular system, a person desiring to contact the cellular subscriber would simply dial the phone number of the cellular subscriber to contact the subscriber at the subscriber""s cellular telephone. As long as the cellular subscriber kept the cellular telephone powered on the subscriber would be accessible when located within the coverage area of the cellular system.
Normally the system sets up a call between the cellular telephone or a so-called mobile terminal and another mobile terminal or a subscriber of a public switched telephone network PSTN. Dialing the subscriber number of the mobile terminal or the like sets up a call to the given mobile terminal. In group calls the whole group is called with a single dialed number, i.e. a group number. A group call is a conference call in which all participants may talk in turn and hear one another. An individual mobile radio may belong to a plurality of groups programmed into the mobile radio. The system keeps a file on the base stations associated with the group number of each group. A group call may cover one, several or all base stations within the area of a mobile exchange or a plurality of mobile exchanges.
Some mobile networks include short message services, e.g. SMS is a bi-directional service in GSM for short alphanumeric messages or data in similar form. In SMS it is possible to deliver a message to the mobile terminal even during an established call, or to deliver a message using so-called store-and-forward service, in which the message is stored in the network, if the mobile terminal is unavailable, and forwarded shortly after the mobile terminal can be reached again. In the traditional GSM system dataservices are based on circuit switched technology providing maximum data transfer rate of 9,6 kbit/s for transparent and non-transparent bearer services for data communication. Along with an increasing data volume, demand for higher transfer rates has arisen so that the GSM has been developed to include as an extension the so-called General Packet Radio service (GPRS) as a packet switched data service.
Current solutions use names (e-mail) or telephone numbers (phones) to identify receivers which the user or an administrator must input to the system.
One drawback of using a cellular system to remain accessible overtime is that cellular airtime charges may be expensive, even for calls made from a second party to the cellular telephone. Especially in a family with many mobile phones the costs will raise quite high. Also the calls between the young people will go high, as they usually want to keep contact quite often and continuously with friends. This same applies to the people who wish to communicate with the people who are close regarding work, hobbies, and school and want only to communicate with certain team members. Also the need for a simple communication with simple terminals exists in order to establish communication between group members. Also to define a group, i.e. to define which members can communicate with each other has been quite difficult especially after one has bought his/her phone. Especially for children there is a real need for cheap terminals in order to avoid harms after the terminal is possibly lost or it has been broken due to the fall of the phone. There is also a great need for communication between people, in a way not to overload the network, and, however, so that the subscribers can be reached easily and reliably. Further the younger people who are members of teams or other groups want to have a common communication terminal and communication way for their group
The present invention introduces a new method and terminal, preferably a wireless communication terminal, for sending voice messages to a group of terminals as one single transmission from the sending terminal. Preferably a cellular telephone network is used for the wireless communication. Also the present invention provides a method for creating a group of terminals together a number of mobile terminals and initiating a group creation command to pass each of the coupled terminals in order to form a group information. The coupling may be a wireless or physical coupling, and the group information is preferably connected to the network which stores and updates the group information and after group establishment passes messages to the terminals of the group.
According to a preferred embodiment of the terminal according to the invention accessibility is aimed at by a simple user interface design, an approachable simple appearance, a wearable lightweight, a small and robust body. The method is a voice messaging delivery system that enables service providers to offer portable two-way communication services over cellular networks. It is possible to use the mobile phone also as to group mode by selecting a predetermined key for the communication within the group. One-key selection makes it easy to contact the other group members. The invention makes possible to communicate between terminals, which have a non-conventional keypad, or between the terminals which have keypad or display and the terminals, which have neither display nor keypad for number dialing. The terminal does not need to know the actual members of a particular group. As result the terminal can be designed easy to use and cheap to produce. It is usable for remote working teams (e.g. field engineering, fishing, agriculture), and e.g. for elderly people""s security.
Further the invention is assumed to be suitable especially for young children who have a relatively limited number of reference groups.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a method for voice based communication between a number of mobile terminals of a telecommunication network, said method comprising the steps of,
creating a group of said number of terminals and storing group information in each of said number of terminals,
recording a voice message in one of said terminals of said group,
dispatching the voice message to said terminals of said group from said one of said terminals, and
receiving the voice message at at least all other terminals of said group.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method for establishing a group of mobile terminals said method comprising the steps of:
coupling together a number of mobile terminals,
initiating a group creation command from at least one of said terminals,
sending predetermined information from terminal to terminal to each terminal of said number of terminals for forming a group information,
transmitting the group information to all of said terminals thus forming a group of said terminals.
According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method for sending a message from a mobile terminal to a group of mobile terminals of a telecommunication network, said method comprising the steps of
selecting the mobile terminal the group of a number of predetermined groups,
allowing the user of the mobile terminal to speak a message,
transmitting the recorded message to a server,
storing at the server information on the terminals of the group of terminals, and
further transmitting the message to each terminal of said group of terminals from the server based on said information.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided a method for receiving a message at a mobile terminal of a telecommunication, said method comprising the steps of
receiving a voice message comprising a recorded message,
indicating to the user of the terminal that a message has been received,
further indicating to the user of the terminal that the received message is from a terminal belonging to a certain group of a number of predetermined groups,
allowing the user to give an input to the terminal, and upon receiving said input playing back the received recorded voice message at the terminal.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention there is provided a a wireless voice communication terminal for a radio communication network, said terminal comprising
a recorder for recording a voice message,
means for storing a terminal communication group definition defining a number of terminals belonging to the same communication group, and
means for sending said recorded voice message to said number of terminals of said communication group as single transmission from the wireless voice communication terminal.